Door control closure mechanism



vJ. D. WHEELER ETAL DOOR CONTROL CLOSURE MECHANISM I I M. i n 5. Wr .L m||H||1m WI W n l||+ /w| WH( @xm ilh 5 m MM HVL www1@ m M o J M wwwwx JDecqsl, 1963 Filed Sept. 20, 1960 y @nu l' T. Ill .III .lr H a -Hwn fm.www mm 0 Dec. 31, 1963 J. D. WHEELER ETA: 3,115,685

DooR CONTROL cLosuRE MECHANISM Filed Sept. 20, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2lllllll nited States Patent llice ll Patented Een. 3l, 1.963

3,ll5,685 DD'R CNTR-L CLSURE MECHANESM .lames D. Wheeler and Pell'lamEl. Anderson, l'r., Birmingham, Ala., assignors to Erase@ ManufacturingCornpany, Harvey, lil., a corporation oi Delaware Filed Sept. 2i), wat?,Ser. No. 57,259

4 Claims. (Cl. 2li-ld) Our invention relates to a door control closuremechanism and has particular reference to mechanisms for use incontrolling the rate of closure of a power actuated door, and is adaptedfor use primarily in combination with a torsion bar closing mechanismmounted in such manner that the torsion yforce of a torsion bar iscontrolled as the loaded tension in the torsion bar closing mechanismmoves the door from open to closed position with the torsion bar orother spring mechanism being placed under force by the opening of thedoor.

Another object of our invention is the provision of means in which aspring actuated door can be held in either open or closed position andin which its rate of closure can be controlled to prevent slamming ofthe door against the frame, or its rate f travel retarded in its closingmovement to such a degree that it will not injure a erson whoaccidentally might be struck by the door as it is being closed.

Another and further object of our invention is the provision of a doorclosing mechanism which is so designed that the rate of closure of thedoor is controlled and is retarded in the last stage of its closingmovement to a point where the closing of the door is very gentle andwill not injure anyone who might have their 'lingers or hands caughtbetween the edge of the door and the door frame.

Another and -further object of our invention is the provision o acontrol means which is easy and simple to apply and in which a smoothswinging movement of the door is secured without danger of breakage ofthe parts or of slamming the door, and in which a complete closureoperation is secured under normal operating -condtions.

rl`hese and other objects ot our invention will be better and more fullyunderstood by reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings and inwhich- FIGURE l is an elevational view of a portion of a door frame anddoor embodying our invention;

FlGURE 2 is a detailed sectional view on lines 2-2 of FEGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed sectional view on lines 3 3 of FGURE l FIGURE 4is a detailed cross-sectional view through the door `frame and hingestile on lines 2 4 of FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectional view of a portion of the door frame andoperating parts on line 5 5 of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 6 is a modified form oi mounting means for the shoe shown inFIGURE l of the drawings.

Referring now specically to the drawings and in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, a portion of a door frame anddoor is shown, the frame comprising a vertical side frame member it?, atop lframe member ll, both the side frame member and the top framemember being made of hollow rectangular metal sections now commonly usedin metal doors, and having a bracket l2 having a top plate portion ttedagainst the under side of the top portion of the top frame member il andhaving depending portions lil, :i3 integrally formed therewith andextending downward therefrom in face to face engagement with the innerface of the side frame i@ and the top frame member l1 and secured tothese members by rivets lll, le thus securing the frame member lil andthe top frame member ll together at the upper end oi the door frame. Athreshold l5 is shown which spans the doorway at the bottom of theframe, only a portion of which door VJframe is shown. The top `framemember 1li is connected to a vertical frame member (not shown) at itsend opposite the member l@ thus forming the usual complete door frame. Abottom block lo is mounted in the frame lo and has a cored openingtherein within which a bushing 17 is mounted with a hinge pin 18extending into the bushing l? which pin l@ forms a hinge pintle for thelower end of the door as hereinafter described.

The portion of the door shown comprises a hollow hinge stile l?, a toprail 2li, a bottom rail Z1, with a top hinge consisting of an armportion 2,2 which extends through the hinge stile 19 and into the end ofthe top rail 2@ and is secured thereto by means of rivets 23, 23, and atits opposite end extends into the side frame member it and has a hingeblade 24 formed on the inner end thereof with the blade 24 having anopening 2,5 cored therethrough `for purposes hereinafter described.

A bottom hinge is provided `consisting of an arm portion 26 and a hingeblade 27 integrally formed therewith, the arm portion of the bottonidoor hinge extending through the hinge stile i9 and into the end of thebottom rail 2l and is secured thereto by means of rivets Ztl, The hingeblade 27 has a cored fbore 29 therethrough into the lower part of whichthe hinge pin lil is received formiru7 a pintle lfor the hinged supportof the door at its lower end. An upper block 3@ is xed to the framemember lil' adjacent the upper end of the member l@ forming a part ofthe door frame, and has an elongated recess 3l formed in its lower facewhich is adapted to receive the turned upper end 32 of a torsion bar 35lwhich is vertically mounted within the frame member l@ and extendslongitudinally of the frame member l@ with its lower turned end beingmounted in an elongated recess 35 formed in the upper face of the hingeblade 27 outward from the bore 253. The ends 32 and 3d of the torsionrod 33 are turned at an angle of approximately to the plane of the doorin its closed position so that the opening of the door twists thetorsion rod 33 on itself thereby placing the rod 33` under springtension with its closing force being directed to the door through thehinge blade 27. The torsion bar 33 has its turned ends 32 and 34extending in the same direction and substantially parallel with eachother in the normal closed position of the door and therefore in stati-ccondition in the closed Iposition of the door. The recess 35 is inclinedabout 5 towards the edge of the door so that when assembled the rod 33has a very slight torsion to take up any back lash that may develop inthe opening and closing of the door. As the door is opened the hingeblock 27 rotates about the hinge pin i8 in a clockwise direction (FEGURE4) to full open position about 90. The torsion rod 33 is twisted uponitself as its upper end is held against rotation in the block Sil. Thedoor upon being released is returned by the recovery of the torsion rod33 to its normal closed position.

An angle member designated as a whole as 36 and consists of an armportion 317 and a pin portion 38 secured together is mounted at theupper end of the side frame member lil, the pin portion 38 of the anglemember 36 extending through a cored opening 2S in the hinge blade 24 andis secured to the hinge blade 2d by a rivet 39 passing through the hingeblade 24 so the hinge blade 24 and pin 38 rotate as a unit. The lowerend portion 4u of the pin 38 is reduced in size and extends into abushing 4l; mounted in a recess 42 formed in the upper face of the iixedblock 353 with lower end of the pin 38 forming a hinge pintle for theupper hinge as the door swings to open and closed position during itsoperation. The angle member 36 also rotates so that the arm 37 travelsin an arcuate path during the opening and closing of the door.

A spring designated as a whole as 453 is secured by means of rivets 44,4d passing through the base portion E5 oi the spring and tln'ough one ofthe depending portions l of the bracket l which member has a spring armi6 integrally formed therewith and extending outwardly therefrom andterminating in a curved end 47 in engagement with and supporting one endof a spring shoe 53. r,The base 45 has a shorter spring arm i9integrally formed therewith which is secured at its end to the shoe bymeans of a rivet so that the shoe is held in operative engagement with aroller 5l mounted in the end of the arm 37. The shoe lb is saucer-shapedin contour and has an elongated curved concave tace S?, thereon on acomparatively long and substantially uniform radii, with a curvedsurface 53 thereon adjacent one end on a shorter radius which mergesinto a reversely curved surface 5d at one end thereof which is tilenormal position occupied by the roller 5l in the closed position oi thedoor. Towards the free or opposite end oi the shoe i3 a curved surfaceis provided somewhat longer in radius than is the curved surface 53 andwhich merges into a reversely curved surface 56 at the Jfree end oi theshoe 45 which is engaged by the roller El when the door is in openposition. Because oi the reverse curvature of the surface Se? the dooris held in open position, until moved towards closed position when thetorsion bar 3G takes over and completes the closing operation. Likewisewhen the roller 5l is in engagement with the surface Se the door remainsin closed position until the door is moved towards its open position bysome form of force applied thereto.

lt will be understood therefore that as shown in FIG- URE 2 the arm 37is in the closed position of the door, (as shown in full lines) while asthe door is being opened the arm 37 rotates in a clockwise manner to itsfully open position (shown in dotted line position) where the door willremain. When actuated in some manner towards its closed position eitherby manual or power operation the torsion bar takes over and the rolleral travels over the surface 52 or". the shoe J8 where the closingmovement is accelerated until the roller 5l meets the curved surface 53on the member i8 at a point representing approximately' eighty percentof the travel of the roller 5 over the surface of the shoe and wherebecause of the engagement of the roller 5l against the inturned end ofthe spring pressured shoe the speed of the door is materially lessened,and its speed of closure decelerated to a point where the movement ofthe door irom this point to its closed position is quite slow. When theroller 5l reaches a position shown in full lines of FIGURE 2 the door isheld in closed position against ordinary movement but in position sothat it can be opened manually or by some form of mechanical dooroperation mechanism.

ln FlGUR-i 6, a modied form of a shoe mounting is shown wherein the shoeit@ is of the same type and character and surface contour as describedhereinabove but which is secured to one oi' the dcpendinfr portions "r3by means of an t-shaped spring 57 which is secured to the shoe by arivet and to the depending portion 21.3 of the plate l2 by a rivet Theopposite end o the shoe is secured to a second S-shaped spring 6i) by arivet 6l and to one of the transverse depending portions i3 forming apart of the bracket by means of a rivet 62. ln operation the shoefunctions in precisely same manner as that heretofore described with theexception that both ends of the shoe "El are lined to springs while inthe modified form shown in FIGURE 6 only one end of the shoe d8 is xedto the spring 9 while it is free at its opposite end and is supported bythe spring de. This modified form is adapted to be used in heavier doorswhere more friction may be necessary to brake the closing movement oithe door than desired in the preferred form.

The operation of the device is exceedingly simple in that when the dooris opened by either a pressure or pulling force applied thereto, and inthe form shown in the drawings, the door opens outward and turns in aclockwise direction upon the hinge pin 18 at the bottom of the door,with the pin 3d rotating in the bushing il which is mounted in the xedblocl 30 towards the upper end of the side member lil of the door frame,As the door begins to open, the arm 37 is moved in a clockwise directionso that the roller fill passes over the surface 53 in a comparativelyslow movement until it reaches the surface 52 and the relation oi thespring shoe to the roller 5l is such that when very slight pressure isexerted on the roller the opening movement of the door can be fairlyrapid until it reaches the surface 55. At this point the door is in thelinal stages of the opening movement and is retarded as the roller alruns upon the surface 55 and onto the reverse surf ce The door is now infull open position and will remain so until an external torce is appliedto the door towarr s the closing position which moves the roller 5l oilthe surface do towards the suriace 555 on the shoe 48. During theopening of the door the turned over lower end 34 of the torsion bar 33,mounted in the recess i5 in the hinge plate 7, is also moved in aclockwise direction as the torsion bar 33 is placed under tension. Whenthe door is opened to a full the torsion bar 33 has been rotatedapproximately this same amount, but due to the position of the roll-er5l on the shoe 4S the door is held in open position until given aninitial movement by the application of force to a closing position whenthe torsion rod 33 takes over and continues the closing of the door. As'the roller 5l moves down the surface Se" and over the surface 52 of theshoe d6, the speed of the door is accelerated and continues its ratherrapid movement until the roller El reaches the surface 53 where themovement of the door is materially decreased. Thereafter the closingoperation is continued at an exceedingly slow rate until the iinalclosing o the door by the passage of the roller 5l from the surface 53onto the reverse curved portion 54- whcre the door is held in closedposition. The location of the shoe relative to the arm 37 must beconsidered carefully so that a proper pressure is applied to the roller5l at all times depending upon the desired conditions and needs or thedoor operation in each particular instance. The closing movement of thedoor can be performed rapidly ii desired, or can be performed at anextremely slow rate of speed so that no possible injury or damage canresult to persons passing through the door as it is being opened orclosed.

While l have described more or less precisely the details ofconstruction, l do not wish to be understood as limiting m* selfthereto, as l contemplate changes in form, the proportion of parts andthe substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggest or renderexpedient without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed:

l. A door assembly comprising in combination a door frame having ahollow side member, a hollow top member secured to the upper end of theside member, a threshold at the lower end of the door iframe, a doormounted in the lframe and upper and lower hinges secured to the saiddoor, each of said hinges having blade portions thereon extending intothe `said hollow side door frame member, each of said blade portionshaving hinge pin openings therein, the blade portion of the lower hingehaving a torsion rod receiving recess therein, a support block `in thesaid hollow side member at its lower end, a lower hinge pin in the hingeblock extending into the opening in the lower hinge blade, a ixed blocksecured in said hollow door side member or" the frame ha Ying an upperhinge pin recess in the upper end thereof and a torsion rod receivingrecess in its lower end, a torsion rod in the said hollow side framemember with its upper end in the fixed block and its lower end in therecess in the lower hinge block,

and an upper hinge pin extending into and secured to the upper hingeblock having an angular arm portion thereon and a spring mounted shoe inthe hollowtop member in engagement with the end of the angular armportion of the upper hinge pin whereby a braking force is applied to theclosing movement of the door.

2. A door assembly comprising in combination a door frame having ahollow side member, a hollow top member secured to the upper end of theside member, a threshold at the lower end of the door frame, a doormounted in the frame and upper and lower hinges secured to the said doorextending into the said hollow side member, the lower hinge having atorsion rod receiving recess therein, a door support block in the lowerend of the said hollow side frame member, a hinge pin in the said blockextending into the lower hinge on the door, an upper hinge block in thesaid hollow side frame having an upper hinge pin receiving recesstherein at one of its ends and a torsion rod receiving recess at itsopposite end, a torsion rod .secu-red in the lower hinge at one of itsends and mounted in the upper hinge block at its opposite end, an upperhinge pin extending through the said upper hinge and secured theretoseated in the recess in the upper hinge block, the said upper hinge pinhaving an arm thereon and a spring mounted angularly disposed brake shoemounted in the hollow top -frame member in braking engagement with theend of the arm of the upper hinge pin.

3. A door assembly comprising in combination `a door frame having ahollow side yframe member and a top hollow member connected with thesaid first-mentioned hollow frame member, a door having upper and lowerhinges thereon extending into the said hollow side member, upper andlower fixed blocks in the said hollow side member supporting each ofsaid hinges, a door hinge pin in the said lower hinge block extendinginto the lower hinge, a torsion bar within the said hollow side memberand extending longitudinally thereof, the said torsion bar being mountedin the door hinge at its lower end and in the upper hinge block at itsupper end, a hinge pin secured to the upper hinge extending into theupper hinge block at one o'f its ends and into the hollow top framemember and having an angularly disposed arm at its upper end, and aspring mounted fixed brake shoe -in the said hollow top frame member inengagement with the end of the said extension arm of the hinge pin.

4. A door assembly comprising in combination a door frame having ahollow side member, a hollow top member secured to the upper end of theside member, a door mounted in the frame 'and a threshold at the lowerend of the door frame, upper and lower hinges secured to the said door,each of said hinges having blade portions thereon extending into thesaid hollow side door frame member, each of said blade portions havinghinge pin openings therethrough, and the blade portion of the lowerhinge having a torsion rod receiving recess therein, a hinge block inthe said threshold, a lower` hinge pin in the hinge block extending intothe opening in the lower hinge blade, a fixed block secured in saidhollow door side member of the frame having an upper hinge pin recess inthe upper end thereof and a torsion rod receiving recess in its lowerend, a torsion rod in the said hollow side frame member with its upperend in the fixed block and its lower end in the recess in the lowerblock, and an upper hing-e pin extending into and secured to the upperhinge block having an angular arm portion thereon and a spring mountedshoe in the hollow top member in engagement with the end of the armportion of the upper hinge pin whereby braking force `is applied to thedoor against the torsion rod in the closing movement of the door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,388,021 Thomas Oct. 30, 1945 2,413,475 Walt-s Dec. 31, 1946 2,700,175Carlson Ian. 25, 1955 2,769,195 Hanssen Nov. 6, 1956 2,878,531 BenhamMar. Z4, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,202,994 France July 27, 1959

3. A DOOR ASSEMBLY COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A DOOR FRAME HAVING AHOLLOW SIDE FRAME MEMBER AND A TOP HOLLOW MEMBER CONNECTED WITH THE SAIDFIRST-MENTIONED HOLLOW FRAME MEMBER, A DOOR HAVING UPPER AND LOWERHINGES THEREON EXTENDING INTO THE SAID HOLLOW SIDE MEMBER, UPPER ANDLOWER FIXED BLOCKS IN THE SAID HOLLOW SIDE MEMBER SUPPORTING EACH OFSAID HINGES, A DOOR HINGE PIN IN THE SAID LOWER HINGE BLOCK EXTENDINGINTO THE LOWER HINGE, A TORSION BAR WITHIN THE SAID HOLLOW SIDE MEMBERAND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, THE SAID TORSION BAR BEING MOUNTEDIN THE DOOR HINGE AT ITS LOWER END AND IN THE UPPER HINGE BLOCK AT ITSUPPER END, A HINGE PIN SECURED TO THE UPPER HINGE EXTENDING INTO THEUPPER HINGE BLOCK AT ONE OF ITS ENDS AND INTO THE HOLLOW TOP FRAMEMEMBER AND HAVING AN ANGULARLY DISPOSED ARM AT ITS UPPER END, AND ASPRING MOUNTED FIXED BRAKE SHOE IN THE SAID HOLLOW TOP FRAME MEMBER INENGAGEMENT WITH THE END OF THE SAID EXTENSION ARM OF THE HINGE PIN.